Reformer of the week – Mikheil Saakashvili
Ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili resigned as Odesa Oblast’s governor on Nov. 7.
Saakashvili said that President Petro Poroshenko and other top officials had sabotaged his efforts to make public administration, customs clearance and law enforcement in the region more transparent and corruption-free.
Saakashvili said that the central government had blocked his attempts to create a graft-free customs terminal and ensured the closure of a center that sped up administrative services. He argued that the central authorities had blocked his efforts to select his deputies and district heads in transparent competitions.
Poroshenko and his representatives declined to comment on the accusations.
Saakashvili also accused Poroshenko allies, including lawmakers Ihor Kononenko and Oleksiy Goncharenko, State Fiscal Service Head Roman Nasirov and the president’s Deputy Chief of Staff Vitaly Kovalchuk, of corruption. They deny the accusations.
Saakashvili’s exit follows an exodus of about 20 other top reformers earlier this year. Most recently, these include Odesa Oblast police chief Giorgi Lortkipanidze, National Television Company CEO Zurab Alasania and Deputy Interior Minister Ekaterina Zguladze-Glucksmann.
Anti-reformer of the week – Serhiy Kozyakov
The High Qualification Commission, headed by Serhiy Kozyakov, has been accused of helping to preserve the corrupt judicial system instead of cleansing it.
On Nov. 3, the commission successfully vetted Volodymyr Melnychuk, a judge of the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal who will be thus able to serve for life.
In 2014 a special commission ruled that Melnychuk passed unlawful rulings against EuroMaidan activists and backed a decision by another controversial judge, Bohdan Sanin, against them.
Judicial reform experts Mykhailo Zhernakov and Roman Maselko argue that the commission has failed to oust corrupt judges and is dependent on President Petro Poroshenko.
Kozyakov has denied the accusations, citing legal reasons that make it impossible to fire controversial judges.
Meanwhile, the authorities have also failed to endow the Civic Integrity Council, a civil-society watchdog overseeing judges, with real power, giving it only advisory functions. The selection of the council is scheduled for Nov. 11.
Critics also accuse the authorities of dragging their feet on creating a special anti-corruption court to independently handle graft cases.
